False twisting device



Aug. 23, 1966 A. KUNZLE ETAL FALSE TWISTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Nov. 4, 1959 IN V EN TORS. flucus rffi/NzL E. BY VV/L 4 rPo rH.

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United States Patent 3,267,657 FALSE TWISTING DEVICE August Kuuzle andWilly Roth, Wattwil, Switzerland, assignors to Heberlein PatentCorporation, New. York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 4,1959, Ser. No. 850,908 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Nov.11, 1958, 66,023/58 6 Claims. (Cl. 57--77.45)

This invention relates to a device for imparting a twist to a runninglength of textile yarn, and more particularly to apparatus for falsetwisting such yarns.

Early apparatus for false twisting textile yarns was hindered by thefact that the speed of rotation which could be imparted to the twistingmeans was seriously limited. In recently developed devices there hasbeen a tendency to increase the rate of rotation of the twister headquite considerably, for example up to about 200,000 rpm. and even more.At these high speeds it is possible to greatly increase yarn feedingspeed and to thereby very significantly increase the rate of productionof crimped yarn.

In one popular apparatus which imparts a very high rotational speed tothe twister head, the twisting tube is supported on freely rotatableaxially parallel rollers and is in tangential contact with theserollers. Rotation is imparted to the twisting tube directly by means ofa high speed driving belt in contact therewith which also presses thetube against the rollers. Because of the relatively small diameter ofthe twisting tube or any built up spindle portion thereof, suchapparatus requires the use of a very high speed driving belt in order toimpart the aforementioned high rotational speeds. In such apparatus thefalse twisting tube and rollers must be adapted to prevent axialdisplacement of the tube in the direction of yarn travel over thetwister head. Since the twisting tube is held in against the rollers bybelt pressure, access to the tube is possible only if the entireapparatus is lifted off or otherwise completely disengaged from thedriving belt. It is an object of the present invention to provide afalse twisting device which overcomes these salient drawbacks ofcurrently available devices.

It is a further object to provide an apparatus wherein rotational speedsof 200,000 rpm. and more are indirectly imparted to the false twistingtube, and in which the twisting tube is easily accessible and removable.

The false twisting device of the present invention comprises a pair ofspaced rollers, a twisting tube in tangential frictional contact witheach of said rollers and magnetic means acting upon the twisting tube tomaintain the same in contact with said rollers. The rollers are sospaced as to provide a crotch or throat therebetween and one of therollers is driven, and the other is an idler. Rotation is imparted tothe twisting tube as a result of its frictional contact with the drivenroller, and the tube in turn imparts rotation to the other roller whichis simply an idler. Frictional contact between the twisting tube and thedriven and idler rollers is maintained through the force of either anelectromagnet or a permanent magnet acting upon said twisting tube andholding the same in the crotch or throat between the rollers.

For a further and complete description of our novel false twistingdevice, reference will now be made to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken away inverted plan view of one embodimentof a false twisting device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line AA of FIG. 1;

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FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 2 in the directionof the arrow B;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation on the line C-C of FIG. 1, butwith the magnet rotated from its correct position in FIG. 1 forillustrative purposes only;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional elevation similar to FIG. 4 butillustrating a modified twisting tube and magnet end;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of another embodiment of the apparatus of thepresent invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, the carrier plate 11 is provided with anopening 34 to accommodate a driving shaft, for example the shaft 5 of amotor, only a portion of the mounting 34a being shown. The shaft 5 isjoined to a driven shaft 35 upon which is mounted a driven roller, whichcomprises a huh I secured to shaft 35 as by means of a set screw 25, anda pair of spaced circular flanges or discs 3, 3'. In the embodimentillustrated discs are employed and they are maintained in apredetermined spaced relationship by means of a spacer sleeve or bushing2.

A hearing shaft 10 is mounted on the carrier plate 11, by means of a nut27 on its lower threaded end 26. Shaft 10 supports the idler rollerwhich comprises a pair of circular flanges or discs 6, 6', mounted on ahub 9 which, by reason of bearing 8, 8, is freely rotatable. Discs 6, 6'are spaced a predetermined distance apart by a bushing 7.

In this embodiment the opposed discs 3, 6 and 3', 6' are in staggeredoverlapping relationship, the discs being so spaced on the rollers thatthe peripheral edge portions of discs 3, 3 protrude between discs 6, 6'.While the discs of the driven roller are spaced closer to one anotherthan discs 6, 6' of the idler roller, it is of course within the scopeof the present invention to provide the driven roller with the outsidepair of discs. Also the overlapping relationship might be obtained withrollers having equally spaced discs simply by raising one of therollers.

The rollers are spaced to form a crotch 40, comprising an upper portionprovided between overlapping discs 3 and 6 and a lower portion providedbetween overlapping discs 3 and 6', and a twisting tube 4 is positionedin crotch 40 in frictional engagement with the peripheral edges of discs3, 3' and 6, 6'. A forked tip 20 which comprises the twister head ismounted on the upper end of twisting tube 4. A pin 17 of a hardmaterial, eg sapphire, is disposed normally of the axis of rotation ofthe twisting tube bridging the gap of the fork. Intermediate its pointsof contact with the peripheral edges of discs 3, 3' and 6,6, twistingtube 4 is provided with a mass of high permeability, low-loss magneticmaterial illustrated in FIG. 2 as a central cylinder 12.

Magnetic means, for example a bar magnet 13, are centrally disposedbetween discs 3, 3' and 6, 6 with the face of its pole piece or piecessubstantially parallel to the axis of twisting tube 4 and in closeproximity to the surface of cylinder 12 of low-loss magnetic material.In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the distance between the pole face 28and cylinder 12 is about 0.3 mm. Under the influence of magnet 13 thetwisting tube 4 is held uniformly in crotch 40 and against theperipheral edges of driven discs 3, 3 and idler discs 6, 6'. The idlerroller is caused to rotate by the driven discs via the twist tube 4.Rotational direction is indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, bar magnet 13 rests in the groove of a twopart bearing clamp 14, 14a which is provided with clamping screws 16 and29, the latter passing through carrier plate 11. For adjustment of themagnet eems? 13 with respect to the twisting tube 4, there is provided ascrew 34) mounted in an adjusting ring 31 seated on the magnet andclamped thereto by means of the screw 32. When the screws 16 in theupper part 14a of the bearing clamp are loosened, longitudinaldisplacement of the magnet is effected simply by turning adjusting screw39.

Rotation may be imparted to shaft 35 of the driven roller by anysuitable means, for example a medium frequency electric motor, the shaftof which is suitably connected to shaft 35, or by means of a drivingbelt or plurality of belts. The belt drive is preferred since aplurality of false twisting devices can be simultaneously driven fromthe same moving belt. Where a belt drive is employed, means, not shown,are preferably provided for engaging and disengaging the lower extensionof shaft 35 and the moving belt.

The apparatus of the present invention is operated simply by feeding theyarn 19 to be false twisted from a supply, not shown, through aperture18 in the carrier plate 11, if the roller discs are not of sufficientdiameter to extend beyond the edge of the carrier plate, then throughthe twisting tube 4 and looping it around pin 17 as is usual in falsetwisting apparatus of this kind, and ultimately to a take-up device, notshown.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the cylinder 12 of low-loss magnetic materialis preferably a sleeve made up of a series of hollow discs of a highpermeability low-loss magnetic material such as sheet iron arrangedadjacent one another as is usual in the construction of transformers.Preferably discs 21, 21' of non-magnetic material, e.g. brass orstainless steel, are disposed at the respective ends of the series ofdiscs of magnetic material. By reason of the low-loss magnetic materialand the position of the magnet closely adjacent thereto axialdisplacement of the twisting tube is magnetically inhibited.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 is specifically designed to magneticallyprevent displacement and to quickly restore the twisting tube to itsproper position should axial displacement occur. The face of magnet 13is provided with teeth 24 and the sleeve on the twisting tube 4 consistsof alternate discs of low-loss sheet iron 22 disposed opposite magnetteeth 24 and discs 23 of non-magnetic material positioned between saidteeth.

Another embodiment of the false twisting device of the present inventionis illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein it :will be seen that thedriven and idler rollers are identical and mounted in the same way uponthe carrier plate 11. Both rollers are freely rotatable on bearingswhich are not shown, and the shaft of either roller may be driven. Inthe apparatus illustrated, shaft 35 is provided with a friction collar52 which engages a moving belt 53 when the apparatus is in operatingposition. The carrier plate 11 is provided with a handle 54 and lockingmeans, not shown, and is drilled and slidably mounted on a pair ofguides 11a and 11b. Collar 52 is disengaged from moving belt 53 simplyby disengaging the locking means and pulling on handle 5%. Obviouslyother means might be provided for engaging and disengaging the device,for example, carrier plate 11 m ght be pivotally mounted on the machinebase.

It will be observed that in this embodiment of the device the circularflanges or discs 3, 3 and 6, 6 of the driven and idler rollers,respectively, are in aligned relationship, as distinguished from thestaggered arrangement of the device of FIGS. l-3. Furthermore, each ofthe flanges is provided with a rim or tire 50, 5t) and 51, 51' of a wearresistant, resilient, friction material to reduce slippage between thediscs and twisting tube to a minimum. The rim material is preferably amodified natural or synthetic rubber. While the rims or tires are notessential to the apparatus of the present invention it has been foundthat the modified rubber rim not only minimizes wear on the metaltwisting tube, but also provides the best frictional contact therewith.When rims are employed, the flanges or discs of the respective rollers dmay be metal. If the discs are not provided with wear resistant,resilient rims as in the apparatus of FIGS. l-3, at least the edge ofthe disc which comes in contact with twisting tube 4- is constructed ofa hard, resilient material, for example a polyarnide or phenoplastsynthetic resin. Desirably the entire disc is constructed of suchmaterial.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 the twisting tube 4- is provided withan enlarged central cylindrical portion l2aand the cyl'nder 12 ofmagnetic material consists of the aforementioned discs of sheet iron orother high permeability, lowloss magnetic material, firmly adhered overportion 12a.

In this embodiment the rollers are spaced to form a crotch or throat 41,comprising an upper portion provided between discs 3 and 6 and a lowerportion provided between discs 3 and 6. The magnetic means employed tomaintain the twisting tube in throat 41 in frictional contact with theperipheral edges of the rims Stl, 50 and 51, 51' is a permanenthorseshoe magnet 15, which is supported on the carrier plate 11 by meansnot shown. The pole pieces 15a and 15b of the magnet extend into thespace between the aligned roller discs, and the face of each pole pieceis shaped as indicated in FIG. 7 to closely accommodate cylinder 12 onthe twisting tube.

Twisting tube speeds up to 250,000 rpm. and more have been achieved andsatisfactorily maintained for several months with the devicesillustrated. At these speeds the hub l of th apparatus of FIGS. 1-3 andthe collar 52 and its shaft 35 of FIGS. 6 and 7 rotate at speeds of onlyabout 20,000 rpm. The ratio of tube speed to disc speed is desirablybetween about 10 and 30:1.

While we have hown and described at least two embodiments of ourimproved yarn twisting device, we do not wish to be limited to thespecific details of construction disclosed, it being understood thatchanges may be made therein within the range of engineering skillwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns comprising a pair ofrollers, at least one of which is driven, spaced one from the other toform a crotch therebetween, a yarn twisting tube positioned in saidcrotch in frictional engagement with the peripheral edges of saidrollers at portions substantially spaced longitudinally Otf said tubeand having means for imparting a twist to yarn passing therethrough uponrotation of said tube, and separate magnetic means located substantiallyequidistant from the axes of said rollers and acting on said tubebetween said spaced portions to maintain the tube positioned in saidcrotch and in said friction engagement, the portions of said tube infrictional engagement with the edges of said rollers haying diameterssubstantially smaller than those of the rollers taken at thecorresponding peripheral edges.

2. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns comprising a pair ofrollers, at least one of which is driven, spaced one from the other toform a crotch therebetween, a yarn twisting tube positioned in saidcrotch in frictional engagement with the peripheral edges of saidrollers at portions substantially spaced longitudinally of said tube andhaving means for imparting a twist to yarn passing therethrough uponrotation of said tube, and separate magnetic means located substantiallyequidistant from the axes of said rollers and acting on said tubebetween said spaced portions to maintain the tube positioned in saidcrotch and in said friction engagement, the portions of said tube infrictional engagement wit-h the edges of said rollers having diametersof the order of between about 10 and 30 times smaller than those of therollers taken at the corresponding peripheral edges.

3. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns comprising a pair ofrollers, at least one of which is driven, said rollers being spaced onefrom the other to form a crotch there'between, a yarn twisting tubepositioned in said crotch in frictional engagement with the peripheraledges, of said rollers at portions substantially spaced longitudi nallyof said tube and having means for imparting a twist to yarn passingtherethrough upon rotation of said tube, at least one Olf said rollersincluding a pair of spaced flanges forming the peripheral edges thereof,and separate magnetic means located substantially equidistant from theaxes of said rollers and between said flanges and acting on said tubebetween said spaced portions to maintain the tube positioned in saidcrotch and in said frictional engagement, the portions of said tube infrictional engagement with the edges of said rollers having diameterssubstantially smaller than those of the rollers taken at thecorresponding peripheral edges.

4. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns comprising a pair ofrollers each formed with a pair of spaced flange pairs disposed inopposed staggered relation and at least one of which rollers is driven,said pairs of flanges spaced one from the other to form a crotchtherebetween, a yarn twisting tube positioned in said crotch infrictional engagement with the peripheral edges of said flanges atportions substantially spaced longitudinally off said tube and havingmeans for imparting a twist to yarn passing therethrough upon rotationof said tube, and separate magnetic means located substantiallyequidistant from the axes of said rollers and between said flanges andacting on said tube between said spaced portions to maintain the tubepositioned in each crotch and in said frictional engagement, theportions of said tube in frictional engagement with the edges of saidflanges having diameters substantially smaller than those of the flangestaken at the corresponding peripheral edges thereof.

5. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns compris ing a pair ofrollers each formed with a pair Olf spaced flange pairs disposed inopposed aligned relation and at least one of which rollers is driven,said pairs of flanges spaced one from the other to form a crotchtherebetween, a yarn twisting tube positioned in said crotch infrictional engagement with the peripheral edges of said flanges atportions substantially spaced longitudinally of said tube and havingmeans for imparting a twistto yarn passing therethrough upon rotation ofsaid tube, and separate magnetic means located substantially equidistantfrom the axes of said rollers and between said flanges and acting onsaid tube between said spaced portions to maintain the tube positionedin said crotch and in said frictional engagernent, the portions 0t saidtube in frictional engagement with the edges of said flanges havingdiameters substantially smaller than those of the flanges taken at thecorresponding peripheral edges thereof.

6. Apparatus for false twisting textile yarns comprising a pair orfrollers, at least one or which is driven, spaced one from the other toform a crotch therebetween, a yarn twisting tube positioned in saidcrotch in frictional engagement with the peripheral edges of saidrollers at portions substantially spaced longitudinally of said tube andha ving means for imparting a twist to yarn passing therethrough uponrotation oif said tube, said twisting tube intermediate its points otfengagement with said peripheral edges being provided with a mass orf lowloss magnetic material and a separate magnet having at least one polelocated substantially equidistant from the axes Otf said rollers andacting on said tube between said spaced portions to main tain the tubepositioned in said crotch and in said frictional engagement, theportions of said tube in fractional engagement with the edges of saidrollers having diameters substantially smaller than those of the rollerstaken at the corresponding peripheral edges.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,428 11/1901Heinze 74-210 2,227,910 1/1941 Pool 57--5l 2,557,104 6/ 19 51 Hegedus5777.'33 2,855,750 10/1958 Schrenk et al 57-77.45

FOREIGN PATENTS 32-10379 12/ 1957 Japan.

STANLEY N. G-ILREATH, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

J. PETRAKE'S, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR FALSE TWISTING TEXTILE YARNS COMPRISING A PAIR OFROLLERS, AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH IS DRIVEN, SPACED ONE FROM THE OTHER TOFORM A CROTCH THEREBETWEEN, A YARN TWISTING TUBE POSITIONED IN SAIDCROTCH IN FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PERIPHERAL EDGES OF SAIDROLLERS AT PORTIONS SUBSTANTIALLY SPACED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID TUBE ANDHAVING MEANS FOR IMPARTING A TWIST TO YARN PASSING THERETHROUGH UPONROTATION OF SAID TUBE, AND SEPARATE MAGNETIC MEANS LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLYEQUIDISTANT FROM THE AXES OF SAID ROLLERS AND ACTING ON SAID TUBEBETWEEN SAID SPACED PORTIONS TO MAINTAIN THE TUBE POSITIONED IN SAIDCROTCH AND IN SAID FRICTION ENGAGEMENT, THE PORTIONS OF SAID TUBE INFRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE EDGES OF SAID ROLLERS HAVING DIAMETERSSUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER THAN THOSE OF THE ROLLERS TAKEN AT THECORRESPONDING PERIPHERAL EDGES.